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The Colombian system only establishes the restrictions for presidents and former presidents with less than a year of having left power. Congressmen can leave the country without problem, but accumulate absences if they have no excuse.
The political polarization facing the country led to more criticism and questioning that Gustavo Petro received when his family informed that he was hospitalized in Italy after catching COVID-19, beyond the wishes for prompt improvement. The questions were varied, and ranged from criticism for calling marches when he was not in Colombia and even supposed permits that he had to request to leave the country.
Several social media users and a well-known right-wing blogger questioned that Senator Gustavo Petro had not asked the Senate board for permission to leave the country, so he was allegedly committing disciplinary offenses that could be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office. However, there is no article of the Constitution or specific law that congressmen must request permission to leave the country.
Can see: Gustavo Petro leaves the clinic after being hospitalized for COVID-19
Law 5 of 1992 only establishes that “the President of the Republic or whoever takes his place, may not move to foreign territory during the exercise of his office, without prior notice to the Senate, whenever it is in session. His ignorance constitutes a clear abandonment of the position ”. Senators or representatives are not mentioned anywhere.
And it has been a career that congressmen must request permission to leave the country, when there is no law or regulation that requires it, as confirmed by a member of the Senate board of directors. Several senators and representatives have requested permission for these trips in the legislative period with the sole purpose of not being told about the failures. This is due to the fact that, without a valid excuse, non-attendance implies a salary discount and, if six absences are accumulated from plenary sessions in which projects were voted, the investiture could be lost.
In the case of Petro, this would imply that the senator could be in trouble if he accumulates without attending six plenary sessions in which bills are voted. However, so far only one such session has taken place. In addition, as debates and voting are taking place in a mixed way (face-to-face and virtual), the leader of Colombia Humana could attend remotely without any type of restriction, even if he is in another country.
Can see: Gustavo Petro would leave the clinic today after oxygen treatment for COVID-19
On the other hand, as his absences would be due to health reasons, he would have valid justification so that his absences were not counted among the causes for loss of the investiture. In short, among the many possible criticisms of Gustavo Petro for his trip, none can point to permits to leave the country, as there is no law that requires this endorsement by Congress.
